Prognostic Significance Of Mast Cell Subpopulations And Macrophage In Colorectal Cancer

Objective To determine whether the mast cell(MC) subpopulations and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) count has any correlations with clinical outcome in colorectal cancer.Methods The MCs and TAMs count were determined immunohistochemically in 60 patients with colorectal cancer , and investigate the relationship of the number of MCs and TAMs with depth of invasion,lymph node metastasis rate, distant metastasis rates and survival rates.Results â‘  Both patients with a low MC count and patients with a low TAM count had significantly deeper depth of invasion than those with a high MC count and those with a high TAM count (p<0.01 and p<0.01, respectively). â‘¡ Patients with a high high MC count and patients with a high TAM count was significantly higher showed significantly lower rates of lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis than those with a low MC count and those with a low TAM count (P<0.05). â‘¢ There were significant positive correlation between MC counts and TAM counts ( r=0.852, p<0.01). In both cancerous tissue and normal colorectal tissue, the predominant MC phenotype was MC_TC. â‘£ The 5 year survival rate estimated was significantly lower in both patients with a low MC count and patients with a low TAM count than in those with a high MC count and those with a high TAM count (P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively).Conclusion In colorectal cancer the number of both MCs and TAMs significantly increase . There appears to be a direct relationship of the number of MCs and TAMs with metastasis and prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer. It is more beneficial for predicting the clinical outcome or prognosis to combine MC and TAM counts.